Poll officials deserve thanks

Many anti-government types tend to point to the gridlock in Congress and suggest that all governments should be abolished. This point of view does not reflect the reality of the people who work in the polls and count the votes, where people are selected based upon their party preference, competence and integrity.

Amazingly, these people - referred to as precinct election officials - perform their duties without headlines for any number of elections throughout the year. While everyone remembers the recent November general election, you may not recall we had nine other elections in Linn County in 2014. Precinct election officials with a partisan label worked in each one. No gridlock. No shut down.

These officials are your neighbors - not someone imported from out of state. And while millions of dollars were spent on political advertising in the weeks and months leading up to the November election, the amount these officials received for doing the final heavy lifting of the day was a pittance - a small stipend for their time and energy. They showed up at 6 a.m. and worked straight through until after 9 p.m.

Besides working at the polls, a bipartisan team of 28 precinct election officials verified and counted over 33,000 absentee ballots (early votes) cast in the general election. Here's where you will find 14 Democrats and 14 Republicans working in two-person teams to perform the tasks of opening the ballot envelopes, separating ballots from envelopes, and preparing ballots to be counted by ballot scanning machines.

These teams worked together to accomplish the tasks at hand, all the while abiding by the laws that govern elections. Yes, they were specifically chosen to represent their parties' political interests; yet, they found a way to represent their parties' interests and still get the work accomplished in a timely manner. That does not mean there were no differences of opinion. It means they worked through the issues and they did it quickly.

For those who are skeptical that partisan government employees can ever be effective and efficient, I challenge you to become a precinct election official to see for yourself how people who may be just as partisan as you come together for the good of the voters and our democracy.

After the November election, Iowa boasted the nation's seventh highest turnout of active voters in the country. And Linn County had the fourth highest turnout of active voters in the state. The majority of Linn County's voters still vote at the polls on Election Day. Elections cannot occur without pollworkers.

I offer my sincere thanks to all of the people who work elections in Linn County. It is through your time, effort, and dedication that the residents of Linn County are able to participate in fair elections conducted with the highest degree of integrity and accuracy.

You should be proud of the work you do for us. Thank you being a great example of how government can work effectively and efficiently!

Thank you for your service!

' Joel Miller is Linn County Auditor. Comments: Joel.Miller@linncounty.org